Baby’s First Shoes: How to Choose the Perfect Footwear for Your Little One’s First Steps
Selecting the right first shoes for your baby is crucial as they begin to take their initial steps. This guide covers everything from proper fit to essential features that ensure comfort, safety, and healthy foot development.
When choosing the very first shoes for a baby who isn’t yet walking (or even trying to), you might be tempted to pick based on cuteness, family reactions, or simply to indulge yourself. However, once your little one starts walking, the criteria for their footwear become much more specific and essential for their safety and development.
Some pediatricians and orthopedists believe that shoes aren't necessary until the baby starts walking. Others suggest introducing shoes as soon as the child begins to stand. Since the time between these milestones is usually short, you can purchase your child’s first pair of shoes anytime—just make sure they have them by the time they actively try to move around independently.
What Should Baby’s First Shoes Be Like?
The style—whether sandals, booties, boots, or shoes—depends on the weather and the environment where you plan to take your baby. However, regardless of the model or price, the quality standards must be strict. Specifically:
The shoes should have a slight heel (about 0.2 to 0.6 inches). This heel isn’t for style or flatfoot prevention but to reduce the risk of your baby falling backward, which can cause serious head injuries.
They must have a firm heel counter to securely hold the heel and protect against accidental ankle sprains.
The insole should be soft, removable, and replaceable with specialized insoles featuring arch support if needed.
The sole must be flexible and as thin as possible to allow natural foot movement.
Shoes should fit perfectly—no slipping or excessive room inside. While buying shoes a little bigger for growth is common, wearing oversized shoes prematurely is not recommended.
Never choose shoes with narrow or pointed toe boxes. To ensure healthy foot development, your baby’s toes need ample room to move freely inside the shoe.
Heel Shoes for Babies: A Trendy but Risky Choice
Does Your Baby Need Orthopedic Shoes?
Nowadays, some parents proudly claim they buy orthopedic shoes to prevent flat feet and promote proper foot development. However, this is often a misconception. Orthopedic shoes are designed specifically for children with diagnosed foot or ankle conditions—not for healthy babies.
Dr. Komarovsky states: "For healthy children, orthopedic shoes do not exist. They are custom-made for those with serious orthopedic issues. Healthy children do not require such footwear."
Most shoes marketed as orthopedic are actually regular high-quality children’s shoes that meet essential criteria like natural leather, wide toe boxes, and firm heels, sometimes equipped with removable insoles that provide arch support, which can help prevent flat feet.
How to Choose Your Baby’s First Shoes
Buying baby shoes online is advisable only if you have already tried the exact model and size in person. Otherwise, it’s best to visit a physical store and try on different pairs to ensure the perfect fit.
Your baby doesn’t need to be present during the purchase since they can’t yet judge comfort or size.
Use a cardboard tracing of your baby’s foot—trace the foot outline on firm cardboard and cut it out with a 1-2 mm allowance. This template is more effective than the foot itself for selecting the right shoe size. Pick models you like aesthetically, then check them against the quality criteria, and finally use the template to find the correct size.
Keep in mind that foot size growth varies individually, but on average, a baby’s foot grows 1 to 1.5 sizes every three months until age two.
How Many Pairs of Shoes Does Your Baby Need?
A single pair of outdoor shoes is sufficient for a baby just starting to walk. Depending on the climate, these could be sandals, sneakers, boots, or moccasins.
At home, babies who are not yet walking can wear knitted or fabric booties. Once they start walking confidently indoors, they should also wear structured shoes with a slight heel, arch support, and firm heel counters—preferably made of natural leather and properly sized.
When your baby begins walking, it’s time to replace soft booties and denim slippers with leather sandals or boots featuring firm heel support. These provide stability and reduce the risk of ankle injuries.
Can Improper Shoes Cause Flat Feet in Children?
When doctors diagnose flat feet in children, many parents blame themselves, believing that ill-fitting shoes caused the condition. However, research shows that footwear has minimal impact on developing flat feet.
Flat feet development is influenced more by a child’s lifestyle than by shoes. Except in rare cases where orthopedic shoes can aid certain flatfoot conditions, healthy feet cannot be made flat by any type of footwear.
Newborns naturally have flat soles, which is normal. As they grow and begin walking, the foot arch gradually forms, helping absorb shocks during movement and protecting the spine, hips, and knees.
The arch develops through the use of specific foot muscles activated when walking on uneven surfaces like grass, sand, or gravel. Both flat feet and excessively high arches are deviations from the norm.
Flat Feet in Children: Myths and Facts
Since children today mostly walk on flat surfaces like asphalt and laminate, parents need to compensate for the lack of natural terrain variety to promote healthy arch development:
Encourage your child to stand and walk on uneven natural surfaces such as sand, pebbles, grass, or playground equipment.
Create uneven surfaces at home by filling a large cloth bag or pillowcase with whole nuts like hazelnuts or chestnuts, allowing your child to stand and walk on it for 50-60 minutes daily. Special orthopedic mats can also be helpful.
Choose first shoes with a slight arch support insert to aid proper foot development.
It’s important to note that the concept of flat feet in infants is misleading since the foot arch fully develops by around age 12. Before then, any foot shape is considered normal and reversible.
The foot arch completes its formation typically by adolescence. Until then, variations in foot shape are natural and correctable. Therefore, diagnosing flat feet in infants is somewhat inaccurate, as all newborns have flat soles that develop over time.
Besides footwear, a sedentary lifestyle plays a significant role in the development of flat feet. Active movement on varied surfaces is essential to strengthen foot muscles and promote healthy arch formation. Make sure your child regularly enjoys playgrounds, climbing structures, and natural terrains.
Orthopedic specialists diagnose flat feet in about 95% of children under two, but this is usually a normal developmental stage. With sufficient activity, this condition typically resolves naturally without intervention.
To prevent flat feet, opt for shoes with slight arch support and encourage frequent activity on uneven surfaces.
Summary: Choosing Baby’s First Shoes
The quality of your baby’s first shoes doesn’t depend on price, brand popularity, or appearance. Surprisingly, some famous brands produce shoes that are not ideal for foot health.
For example, traditional felt boots worn by generations in cold climates remain one of the best winter footwear options when paired with soft insoles featuring arch support. They provide excellent ankle stability, protecting against sprains, and their rounded soles encourage natural foot muscle activity, aiding arch development.
However, these boots may not appeal to modern tastes. Conversely, popular styles like 'ugg' boots, though warm, lack firm heel support and have flat soles, making them unsuitable for babies with developing feet.
In conclusion, neither cost, brand, nor style guarantees good quality baby shoes. To find the perfect pair, inspect multiple options carefully—check insoles, heel firmness, toe box width, and materials. Only then can you confidently select shoes that support your baby’s healthy first steps. Remember, as your child grows, you’ll need to repeat this process every few months.
Photo credits: Getty Images
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